Justice Minister Catarina Sarmento explained that priority was given to the citizenship process for the Portuguese-Brazilian twins being treated at the Santa Maria Hospital due to the girls’ age and the fact that they have a Portuguese father.
Sisters with a diagnosis spinal cord atrophy, gthey received Portuguese citizenship in 14 days in order to have access to treatment at the Santa Maria Hospital with one of the most expensive drugs in the world.
Catarina Sarmento, present at the parliamentary hearing this Thursday, said that the nationalization process was fast because the twins were newborns at the time, which justifies the urgency of the matter. He also emphasized the fact that they had a Portuguese parent for the speed of obtaining citizenship.
“It made no sense to consider a case involving a minor, a child who does not pose any special security problems, and a case involving the child of a Portuguese parent, it did not make sense to wait in the same queue for cases that are much more complex,” the minister explained.
The case of two twins living in Brazil, who acquired Portuguese citizenship and received the drug Zolgensma in Portugal in 2020 with a total value of four million euros, was published by TVI in November and is being investigated by the prosecutor’s office. Management – General Inspectorate of the Republic (IGR) and General Inspectorate of Medical Activities (IGAS).